The HESI A2, explained

The HESI Admission Assessment, known as the HESI A2, is published by Elsevier. Nursing and allied health programs use it to check that applicants have the reading, math, language and science basics the course assumes. It is taken on a computer at a testing center or proctored by the school.

Unlike most entrance exams, it is modular. A program might require only math, reading, vocabulary and grammar, or add anatomy and physiology, biology and chemistry. So the first step is always the same: find out exactly which sections your program requires, and whether it sets a minimum for each one or only for the overall score.

There is no national pass mark: each program sets its own. These are the requirements the programs themselves published when we checked in October 2026. They change, so confirm on your program's own page before you book.

Each section is scored as a percentage of questions answered correctly, and the sections you sit are combined into composite scores. Programs read these in two ways: a minimum for every required section, an overall (cumulative) minimum, or both. A strong average does not rescue one weak section where a program sets per-section minimums, which is why the weakest section deserves most of your study time.

Your score report also breaks each section into topics, which is the most useful study map you will get if you need a retest. Retest rules (how many attempts, how long to wait, whether scores from another school count) are set by each program.

You do not choose between them: your program does. If you are applying to several programs that use different exams, the overlap is large, and these are the differences worth preparing for.

HESI-style math leans on conversions you are expected to know. These are the rounded equivalents such questions usually use; if a question gives its own factor, use that one.

• Math: write the conversion as a fraction with units (154 lb × 1 kg / 2.2 lb) so the units cancel and you cannot multiply when you should divide. Then estimate: kilograms are always the smaller number.
• Reading: read the question first, then find the sentence that answers it. Wrong options are often true statements that the passage does not make.
• Vocabulary: break words into parts (bi- two, -itis inflammation, hyper- over, hypo- under) and read the sentence before the options.
• Grammar: say the sentence with each option in your head; most errors are agreement (each, neither ... nor), pronoun case (me, not I, after a preposition) and confused pairs (affect and effect, fewer and less).
• Science: anatomy and physiology is required most often; learn body systems by function, then terminology. Biology and chemistry reward the basics: cells, DNA, bonding, pH.